Gluten Free in Paris

Let’s go back to the beginning. In February of last year, barely a week after my girlfriend had asked me officially to be hers, she asked if I’d like to Paris sometime in October. And I was skeptical. I’d barely been seriously theirs for a week and here they were asking if I wanted to go to Paris. “I’ve always wanted to take a girl to Paris,” she said, and my heart melted. So that’s how I spent 5 days last October walking between tourist destinations and eating my way through the city of love.

I’ve eaten gluten free for the last five years or so, and frankly know what to expect out of it. The likelihood is high that I’ll be eating a salad, and I’m okay with that. This was the first time I was traveling abroad in at least 12 years though, and the trips of my childhood had included lots of eating at home and bringing cherrios and granola bars from the states. But this was a trip of eating out, so here are the highlights.

This restaurant is billed as an Australian restaurant, which I would argue is a little odd. Sandwiches, fries and salads are on the menu here. I had a delicious club sandwich that was genuinely satisfying. Note the cost, as this is a sit down restaurant, but it is close to Notre Dame, and the area is lovely to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

This quick service restaurant is smack between the monuments and offered a variety of refrigerated fare that could be grab and go, but you can also sit inside for a bit of respite. After a long day of museums, we sat here for an hour. The food was good enough. My partner had sushi and I had a gluten free quiche. This place was great because everything was labeled, and they had lots of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options. Especially in an area that is pretty pricey, this is a good option.

When researching going to Paris and eating gluten free, this place kept popping up, and this was the only exclusive gluten free location we went to. This tiny bistro about a mile from the Louvre offers sandwiches and delicious pastries. If you want the true French food experience with baked goods and the works, come to No Glu. There are a couple different locations, some that serve a more extended menu, but this one close to the Louvre had a pan chocolat I would die to have again.

We also made a jaunt over to Glasgow and had a meal at Sloan’s for dinner. This restaurant had traditional Scottish fair with a little fusion mixed in, so while my partner had hagaas pakora’s, I had a fish pie with broccolini. This place was delicious, but be warned, the portions are actually gigantic, so consider splitting your cheesy fish pie with a friend.

You’ll notice that I took exactly zero pictures of our food on this trip, partially because my phone was almost constantly dying and our only access point to the internet, and partially because by the time we sat down somewhere to eat, we would DEVOUR our food in all of 12 seconds. We would start our days early, eating peanut butter and toast or something before heading out, so by lunch time, we needed to eat something, anything, as fast as we could get it down our gullet without choking.

And what of dinners? Well, 2 of the five were at unremarkable restaurants, and the last 3 nights, we ate at the same place all three nights without remorse. It was a restaurant called Trivoli Fountain, out in Pitoux, far from any tourist destination, and was across from our hotel. We ate pizza and escargot and steak frite and had an amazing time enjoying the food there, but it was also an Italian restaurant out in the middle of the suburbs, so you honestly shouldn’t go seek this place out unless you’re already headed in that direction.

Please let me know if you have questions, I am more than happy to do my best to answer them.

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